Millions of pounds of road tax is going uncollected because expat and foreign drivers are failing to register with the Driving Vehicle Licensing Centre, claims a motoring organisation.
The RAC also argues that many vehicles coming into the country from abroad could be unsafe because they are not subject to the same stringent MoT checks as British vehicles.
Now, the organisation is urging the government to collect the details of foreign registered vehicles coming in and out of the UK so that drivers qualifying to pay road tax pay their dues.
Motoring laws require that expats and foreign drivers brining a vehicle into Britain should:
- Register the vehicle with the DVLA after six months in the UK
- Pay a £55 registration fee and vehicle excise duty
- Make sure the vehicle has an MoT if it is more than three years old
- If applicable, pay VAT on importing the vehicle
Research by the RAC shows drivers and the government widely ignore the rules, even though the Border Agency has a database of every foreign registered vehicle entering and leaving the UK.
No punishment
Although the data is used for customs and security purposes, the details are not passed to the DVLA to chase any tax due while the vehicle is in the UK.
“As a result, the DVLA has no clue whether any foreign vehicles have stayed more than six months in Britain,” said a spokesman for the RAC.
“Not only is the country missing out on millions in tax, but many of these vehicles may fail to meet our road safety standards by not having a valid MoT certificate – which also means they have no insurance.”
The RAC also argues that expats and foreign drivers snapped by roadside speed cameras also get away without paying any fines or other punishment.
15,000 ‘missing’ vehicles
“All this missing money could help cash-strapped councils keep the roads in a better state for the benefit of everyone,” said the spokesman.
The report points out although 60,000 foreign vehicles are registered with the DVLA each year, at least another 15,000 never show up on official records except when they are captured on camera entering or leaving the country.
The RAC calculates that the average vehicle excise duty per vehicle is £200, which means councils could gain an extra £3 million in road tax to go towards road maintenance.
“Technology should make sharing this vehicle data easy for the Border Agency and the DVLA, but for some reason they choose not to do it,” said the RAC spokesman.
